Tag Archives: art

Tarotcast

Tarotcast for Week of November 5, 2017

Dorothy P. Lathrop Dorothy P. Lathrop

The illustrations above are by the artist Dorothy P. Lathrop. She was born in Albany New York, and was a prolific illustrator from 1919 to 1967. She was an animal activist and vegetarian, and you can see her love of animals in the details of them in her illustrations. Many of her models were from her and her sister’s menagerie of animals that lived with them throughout their lives. Interestingly, I have these hanging on my wall for the past 20 years and until doing research on her did not know what artist had illustrated the above pieces.

We define illustration as a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video games and films. Sadly illustration and the people who make them are not consider fine art. I beg to differ. Illustrations are usually the first art forms we encounter as children. They illuminate our imagination, and help us visualize and learn the constructs of language. Though fine art can move us with emotion, and, if we have enough art history, ignite our intellect . Illustration as an art form is better defined by the word’s original meaning in Middle English – illumination; spiritual or intellectual enlightenment. Illustration gives our stories and minds wings.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you. I have a new reading the Planetary Spread for you all to check out.

Aries – King of Swords – The King of Swords is the decision maker. This week will be filled with choices and big decisions. The best way to get through this week is to be methodical in your thinking.   If you are feeling overwhelmed step back and strategize with someone you trust.

Taurus – Six of Pentacles -. The Six of Pentacles is the mini karma card. Remember that ever thing you do has an effect. The more positive or negative you put in the world the more positive or negative you receive. The challenge is to realize that not all karma flows directly or timely. Goodwill and faith are the keys this week.
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week of November 5, 2017 →

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Tarotcast for Week of October 22, 2017

Viktor Vasnetsov

This is a painting by Viktor Vasnetsov  titled the Three Princess of the Underworld. It is based on the Russian fairytale The Three Men of Power- Evening, Midnight and Sunrise. This fairytale has the familiar themes of princess in distress, usually three poor but gallant brothers go off to save them, but it is the youngest who saves the day. This youngest son or daughter is a common theme in many stories like Joseph in the bible, The Golden Bird, The Red Ettin, Boot and the Troll, to name a few. What is the need for us to see the youngest win?

I hypothesis that the youngest theme was a pushback of the old world system where in reality the eldest got the crown, the girl, the prestige. In ancient times, fairy tales became parables of hope to the youngest and maybe made the eldest more considerate. But today the fairytale has expanded into reality. Our re-telling of history or the news highlighting the underdog even though these are places where unbiased truth should rule.

We all rally around the smallest guy on the team when he get to first base or the girl who becomes an astronaut. I hope we all still do, but is our focus on the fairytale ending skewing reality? Are we making choices based on hoping things into authenticity, backing the “underdog or outsider” for that sole reason, or even celebrating anomalies instead of correcting and dealing with the injustices that are real? Please still rally around the “youngest” winning, read fairy tales and have hope, but also see that genderism, racism, sexism and other “isms” are still predominant problems that the “youngest” still face.

P.S.  I have a new reading the Planetary Spread for you all to check out.  Please support your local artists this holiday season. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

*Aries – Tower – The best way to make it through a Tower week is to be cautious, keep your expectations low, and go with the flow. The Tower shakes things down that are not working. Keeping your eyes open for falling debris, and be okay with this restructuring. It will make you safer and more prepared the next time the poop hits the fan.

Taurus – Two of Cups -. The Two of Cups emphasis compassion, partnership, and trust. This card is begging you to engage in some lovin’. Your only challenge is in finding the time.
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week of October 22, 2017 →

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Tarotcast for Week Of September 24, 2017

Above is a photo of the blue-jeans poisonous dart frog. It is considered one of the ten most poisonous frogs in the world. Poison frogs hold some of the most potent neurotoxins on earth, yet how do they not poison themselves? Scientists are getting closer to the answer. Normally a neurotoxin binds itself to receptors in an animal’s receptors nervous system. This can cause hypertension, seizures and even death. However, scientists have found that the same genetic mutation, in three evolutionarily different frog groups, prevents the toxins from acting on the frogs’ nerve receptors and still allowing regular nerve function. The study of these frogs are helping scientist design drugs that mimic this selective nerve blocker to block pain in humans without blocking other nerve impulses.

I also find them cute and amazingly beautiful. They are tiny mobile abstract paintings of the rainforest.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

Aries – Knight of Cups – The Knight of Cups’ lesson is about wearing your heart on your sleeve. Though it is great that you are showing more emotion this week, please be careful to whom you are showing it to. The best way to gauge this is to engage only with the people who you can trust.

poisonous frog

Taurus – Four of Pentacles – I’m Late, I’m Late for a very important date, is your theme this week if you are not prepared. The Four of Pentacles is about saving time, money, or resources. However, this card represents the dark side of saving. By trying to save time you end up using more resources. By trying to save money you end up using more time. Or, by trying to save resources you end up using more money. This week, don’t cut corners in the long run you will save the outcome of your projects.
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week Of September 24, 2017 →

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Tarotcast for Week of September 17, 2017

Friedrich Schroder Sonnenstern Outsider Art

The definition of art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as a painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. The artwork above is by Friedrich Schroder Sonnenstern. He is a representative of Outsider Art or Art Brut. Outsider Art is art done by self taught art makers who have had no contact with the mainstream art world. Jean Dubuffet collected and brought this “raw art” into the mainstream art world and called it the Collection de l’art brut, which is now housed in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Outsider art now encompasses a variety of art forms like Folk Art, Visionary Art, Marginal Art, Naive Art, and Visionary Environments. It is interesting that even though the definition of art is all encompassing. We still try to categorize it, so we can push against the category that becomes the new form and to once again color outside the lines.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you. I have attached works of Friedrich which may or may not define your card.

Aries – Four of Wands – The Four of Wands’ lessons are around the paradox of feeling at home while feeling your freedom. This is the challenge of this card feeling at home with your decisions, your life, especially when they are unorthodox at least in the eyes of others. This week work on feeling comfortable and proud when you let your freak flag fly.

 

Taurus – Ace of Wands – The Ace of Wands proclaims this is a great week to start projects, explore new places, and follow your passions. The only challenge is to be aware that all this energy and enthusiasm you have could plow over the people around you. Remember to share your empathy along with your passion this week.
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week of September 17, 2017 →

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Tarotcast for the Week of September 3, 2017

Happy Birthday month Virgos!

Jean-Pierre Jeunet birthday is today. I love all of the films that he has, in combination, written and directed.: Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, MicMacs, and The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet. He also did a short film called Foutaises -Things I Like, Things I Hate which I also love.

These movies have a gloomy quality to them which I find to be part of Virgo’s character. However, it is not the darkness that makes these films or people great. It is the contrast of deep themes of death and despair told through absurd and funny vignettes of love and life. This is one of the qualities of Virgo’s dharma to see the suffering but find the beauty, love and laughter that lives along side it. This is even the quality of Virgo’s birth month. The end of summer and the beginning of fall, where autumn portrays death in the beauty of fall colors.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

Aries – Six of Wands – This week find a stopping point in a project/life. The Six of Wands is challenge you to take a breather before jumping into the next phase. Take some time to pat yourself on the back for all your hard work and the progresses you have made. You deserve it.

*Taurus – Wheel of Fortune – Time to take a turn at the wheel this week. The Wheel challenges you to take advantage of a change of fortune in your life. This can be good or even a bad set of circumstances that can catapult you out of what has been a redundant cycle. The big thing is change is here so grasp the brass ring and get off the carousel.
Continue reading Tarotcast for the Week of September 3, 2017 →

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Tarotcast for Week of August 27, 2017

Andreas Gursky uses large format photography and a higher point of view to capture our environments giving us a different perspective than where we normally journey. His architectural photos show how we try to order and create symmetry in our world. But even in his subjects where we think we would find randomness, by pulling us back to a wider perspective, our eyes and minds try to find order to our chaotic world.

The smaller format below does not do Gursky’s work justice, so I suggest you go to his website.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you.

Aries – Eight of Pentacles – Back to a regular work week with the Eight of Pentacles. This card advises you to focus on work. If you do, you will find yourself in the flow more often than not. Your challenge is improve your skills and center your attention to master your work.

Taurus – Ten of Wands – The Ten of Wands’ lesson is about putting too much on your plate. This week your challenge is to drop or at the very least put on the backburner one project. You have too many things to do and are feeling overwhelmed. And of course with your Taurus work ethic, you can do it all, but is that how you want your everyday life to look like?
Continue reading Tarotcast for Week of August 27, 2017 →

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Tarotcast for Week of August 13, 2017

This week we are between two eclipses. Eclipses foretell beginnings, endings and change in general. So I picked the kinetic art of Theo Jansen to represent the movement in the universe. He calls his creations Strandbeasts. I recommend clicking on to the hyperlink it is pretty amazing.

P.S. Remember, signs with * it’s a big week for you. This opening is brief and no individual pictures for signs because I am also moving this week. Light and Love see you all next week.

Aries – Eight of Swords – The past two weeks have asked you to slow down, heal, and craft some structure in your life to protect yourself and the life you want to create. This week the Eight of Swords is having you look at what boundaries your thoughts form that hold you back from living the life you want.   We are between eclipses and this is the perfect time to slough off anything that isn’t working for you.

Taurus – Five of Wands – This week can be filled with a chaotic energy, some is yours and the rest is everyone else’s. We are between eclipses where things end and new beginnings occur.   Your challenge is to realize that the only true control you have is over is your own stuff. This is a week of patience and presences.

*Gemini – Justice – The Justice card advises you to think logically and with an end game in mind this week. The two eclipses lend energy to endings and beginnings during this time, and this energy can complicate and distract your thinking. Your challenge is to keep your choices and problem solving as two pronged as you can.

Cancer – Eight of Wands – The Eight of Wands heralds that there is information out there for you this week. Keep your eyes, ears and mind open for synchronicities and messages from the Universe,  because the eclipses these messages are around endings and beginnings.   Remember you need one to have the other.

Leo – Four of Cups – We are betwixt the two eclipses where changes abound, and the one coming up is in your sign next week. So to prepare you the Four of Cups has shown up. This card advises that this week you can keep to yourself and do some inner belly gazing. But it’s challenges is after looking within you will need to look outwards.

*Virgo – Judgment – This week we are between the two eclipses – a time of change, and you got the card of evolution, Judgment. This is a great card to get with the energies that are out there right now. You can make some major shifts in your life and have the universe support it.   In a simple way, this can look like changing your paint color in bedroom from a energetic yellow to a more calming blue and you find that you sleep better. Or in a more complex way you meditate on, say…. your heart chakra and change it from a dusty rose to a hot pink. Your challenge is that change begins with your actions in the universe, not the other way around.

Libra – Four of Wands – We are now between the two eclipses, which like your last week’s tarotcast heralds endings and new beginnings. And with change brings a bit of chaos. This week the Four of Wands challenges you to deal with the disorder outside by bringing order to your home.

Scorpio – Three of Wands – To prepare for the new moon and eclipse next week, the Three of Wands is advising you to take a step back from your life and take stock of what you will need for the new beginnings approaching after August 21st. Your only challenge is to hold of starting anything new until ALL of your ducks are in a row.

Sagittarius – Ten of Wands – This week your ship has come in, but now you will have to cart all the goods home. Being between the two eclipses this month has given you a glimpse into what needs to be ended and started to make your life happen with more ease. But there is still work to be done until you can really enjoy your bounty. Your challenge is to figure out what is worth carrying into the new life you desire. This card recommends that you need to lighten your load.

Capricorn – King of Wands – You were clued into the change the eclipses are bring with the Tower card you got last week. So as the solar eclipse comes closer you all are a step ahead of the rest of us. Where the past weeks you have been contemplating of what, where and how you want that change to affect your life, this week the King of Wands is challenging to walk the talk. So, your test is to start doing one thing that will create the change that you seek.

Aquarius – Page of Pentacles – We are between two eclipses and you are trying to take advantage of the winds of change. Your work continues on but fairs better if you are both ears and hands on. This week there is a lot to learn from your environment. Your challenge is to put what you think you know aside and become the student of change.

*Pisces – Hangman – We are between the two eclipses and this is a great card for being in between the endings of the lunar eclipse and the beginnings of the solar eclipse August 21st. The Hangman asks you to take a break or detour from your life/work to gain knowledge from a different perspective. This can look as simple as mediating for 15 minutes each day, doing some lucid dreaming, or even taking a walk out in nature. This is not a week to make life changes or even make big decisions. This is a week of contemplation. The challenge is getting yourself in a different “environment” to shift your mind so you can see alternative possibilities to all the possible futures you can  create.

 

May light be on you, around you, and within you,

Nina